Windows 8-Facebook sync blown away in API bombing raid

Microsoft will soon drop Facebook integration from Windows and a number of its online products, following a change to Facebook's APIs.

It appears Facebook has changed parts of its Graph API that Microsoft's code uses. That change has broken compatibility between Redmond's software and the social network, so now several of Microsoft products must be sunset, according to a Tuesday blog post on office.com.

Facebook Contacts will no longer sync with Outlook.com, Office 365's Outlook Web App, Windows Live Essentials, or the People apps from Windows 8, Windows 8.1, Windows Phone 7, and Windows Phone 8.

Similarly, Calendars from Outlook.com, Windows, Windows Phone, and Office 365 will no longer automatically pick up events from Facebook, although you'll still be able to subscribe to Facebook event links from Outlook.com manually.

You won't be able to publish photos or videos to Facebook using the Windows 8 Photos app, the Windows 8 Photo Gallery, or Movie Maker, either, and photos that have previously been uploaded to Facebook will no longer be visible in the Windows Photos app.

In addition, the People app on Windows 8 and Windows 8.1 will lose the ability to post updates to Facebook contacts, you won't get Live Tile Notifications about Facebook events and status updates, and you won't be able to share content to Facebook via the Charms bar.

Note, however, that all of this only applies to users of Microsoft services and Windows' own built-in apps. Windows users will still have full access to their Facebook accounts via the Facebook website or the standalone Facebook apps for their platforms.

This isn't the first time Microsoft has dropped support for syncing with a rival's services following an API change. In 2012, the software giant disabled the ability to sync Windows Calendar with Google Calendar, for similar reasons.

El Reg asked Redmond why it didn't just rewrite its Windows apps to talk to Facebook using the Graph API, but a spokesperson said Microsoft had nothing more to share on the subject. ®

This article was amended on Wednesday, June 10, to clarify that Microsoft dropped Facebook sync support following a change to Graph API.